AIDS Shows Marked Decline Where Education is Present

The worldwide AIDS epidemic continues to grow, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although this region contains only about 10% of the world’s population, it accounts for over 70% of the worldwide incidence of HIV/AIDS. In 2003, an estimated 26.6 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV, including 3.2 million who became infected that year. Approximately 2.3 million people died of AIDS in 2003.

There are several compounding reasons for the high incidence: lack of AIDS education, low literacy rates, cultural stigmas, incidence of poverty, incidence of other diseases such as malaria and TB, and incidence of war and civil unrest, just to name a few. Further, lack of access to the necessary drugs needed to manage the disease makes HIV essentially a death sentence.

The largest impact, as is usually the case, is on children. Those who do not die of AIDS run the risk of being orphaned – a possible death sentence itself in a region lacking in social service resources. It is estimated that 30 million children in Africa will be orphaned due to AIDS by 2010.

It is easy to turn away from these numbers. Admittedly they are hard to fathom, never mind face. But there is hope, which has also been documented. Some regions in Africa, notably Senegal and Uganda, have actually shown declines in the incidence of AIDS. During the mid-90’s, Uganda was one of the region’s “hotspots”, but after nearly a decade of an aggressive educational campaign, the rate of new infections has declined.

We have seen proof that educational programs do work by striking at the root of AIDS. By explaining the risks and realities of AIDS one-on-one with people, the Support Africa Organization aims to help curb the tide of AIDS.

But we cannot do it without your contribution. Donate any amount today, large or small, and let’s continue to make a difference. Your generous donation now can mean a life saved tomorrow.

Portions of the stats in this article are from the UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update – December 2003, and can be found here:

http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/epidemiology/en/epiupdate2003_I_en.pdf

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